The levels of mouth cancer in the UK have doubled in the past 20 years and have grown by a third in the past decade, a new report has revealed.

A study by the Oral Health Foundation found that in 2021 a total of 8,864 people were diagnosed with the disease. This was 34 per cent higher than the figure ten years ago and 103 per cent more than 20 years ago. 3,034 people died of the disease in the UK last year, 20 per cent more than five years ago.

Chief executive of the foundation Dr Nigel Crater said this upward trend made mouth cancer exceptional compared with other types of cancer, where the instances were dropping.  

Mouth cancer has historically been associated with smoking and excess drinking, but as these have been declining factors in public health in recent years they cannot be the cause of the increase.  

Dr Carter explained: “Traditional causes like smoking and drinking alcohol to excess are quickly being caught by emerging risk factors like the human papillomavirus (HPV).” He added: ”The stigma around mouth cancer has changed dramatically. It’s now a cancer that really can affect anybody.”

Because HPV has proved such a malign influence and led to a rise in cases even as other causes have diminished, the organisation has declared November to be Mouth Cancer Action Month.

Over the course of the month the organisation will be highlighting the dangers of the disease, which is usually only detected at stage 4. Describing the cancer as “devastating” in its effects, Dr Carter remarked:  ”It changes how somebody speaks, it makes eating and drinking more difficult, and often changes a person’s physical appearance.”  

An early Sheffield cancer diagnosis may make a huge difference in outcomes for patients who take steps to get checked out as soon as the first possible signs of disease appear, enabling treatments to begin sooner. Mouth Cancer Action Month aims to raise awareness to get more people to speak to their GP or dentist if they have any signs of it.

Early mouth cancer indicators can include inflamed patches that look like persistent mouth ulcer, or unusual lumps or swellings, either in the mouth or on the neck. A third of mouth cancers are found on the tongue and just under a quarter are found on the tonsils. The lips, gums and inside of the cheeks are also possible sites for the disease.

Another form of oral cancer to look out for is tongue cancer. In a feature on one patient’s experience of the disease to mark Mouth Cancer Action Month, Dentistry Magazine told the story of patient Barbara Fountain, who had a persistent ulcer on her tongue and was ultimately referred by her dentist to the local hospital for checks.

This led to her diagnosis and subsequent treatment, with the disease being caught at stage one and being excised with surgery. However, it had been found early enough not to require chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Ms Fountain subsequently set up ‘Young Tongues’, a support group for young people with experience of tongue cancer.

A ground-breaking treatment that could be the first to stop cancer cells from functioning by suppressing the actions of Midkine, a protein that is associated with the growth of cancers. 

Roquefort Therapeutics has just revealed results of its research into the use of a new splice-switching RNA drug that can change the messenger RNA of Midkine. This weakens the Midkine and also creates a kind of non-functioning shortened Midkine, impairing its capacity to help cells grow.

The results of the work have been presented at the 29th European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ESGCT) in Edinburgh. 

Chief executive officer at Roquefort Alan Reginald said: “For the first time, an RNA medicine has been shown to switch-off functional Midkine production in cancer cells.” 

He added: “This proof-of-concept study highlights the potential for a new class of medicines blocking Midkine production to target some of the most difficult to treat cancers.”

Patients seeking private cancer treatment may be keen to see if they can access drugs to carry out this function. Although any new treatment will need to be trialled and approved for use in the UK by bodies like the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, some may be keen to speak to an oncologist about the possibility at the earliest opportunity.

In the case of Roquefort’s RNA therapy, the pre-trials were completed with promising results earlier this year, with a matter of patent application being submitted in March. 

Previous research has highlighted the importance of the link between RNA and cancer, establishing that RNA suppression can impede cancer cell growth. However, while there have been various attempts to develop drugs that produce this effect over the past decade, until now these have not been successful.  

Among the benefits of using RNA treatments in this way is that it will be a lot less toxic than cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

A Sheffield resident with terminal cancer has become the face of a national fundraising campaign to raise awareness and funding for a charity.

The BBC reported Emma Fisher has been chosen to model for Adidas, as part of a Breast Cancer Now initiative. 

Speaking with the news provider, the 41-year-old, who has incurable breast cancer, said: “Sometimes you just have to walk up a big hill to remember you’re alive, feel the cold wind on your face, laugh at your dogs, look around and think how grateful you are to still be able to get up that hill.”

Emma was first diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago after discovering a painful lump. She underwent a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy to remove the tumour. However, after a snowboarding accident in 2018, she found out the cancer had spread to her bones and lymph nodes. 

Despite enduring several treatments and being on a “multitude of medications”, the tumours continued to spread. 

Director of fundraising, communications and engagement at Breast Cancer Now Rachael Franklin added the campaign has been made with Adidas to raise awareness of the benefits of the outdoors and keeping active among patients. 

Keeping breast cancer in the news is essential, as the charity recently revealed that 41 per cent of women in the UK do not check their breasts for signs of cancer at least once every three months. 

What’s more, over a quarter of those who do check their breasts do not feel confident they would even be able to feel a lump or notice a change. 

 

For breast cancer treatments in Sheffield, take a look here. 

One of the aspects of cancer that can cause a considerable amount of unease, concern and distress is that there are many different types of cancer that function differently, originate in different parts of the body and sometimes require different types of cancer care to treat.

According to the NHS, there are over 200 types of cancer, and at different stages, they can have different effects, which are often described in terms of stages and grades.

Stages of cancer are typically used to describe levels of progression, with stage 0 meaning that a cluster of abnormal cells has not become large enough to be described as cancerous, and stage 4 meaning that the cancer has spread to other organs and parts of the body.

Cancer grading, on the other hand, focuses on the cancer cells themselves and how abnormal they are compared to normal cells in the body, as well as how quickly they are growing.

Both of these factors are important, as the growth rate impacts how quickly the cells are growing in comparison to typical cells in the body and the risk at which they could overwhelm and progress to more advanced stages.

As well as this, the abnormality of cancer tissues can affect the inherent structure of the tissues and thus their stability and functionality.

Grading is sometimes known as differentiation for this reason; the cancer cells are developed and organised differently from normal cells and are at the greatest risk of causing harm.

Grading is done on a numbered scale, typically from Grade 1 (with cancer cells looking similar to normal cells) to Grade 3 and beyond (cancer cells looking particularly abnormal and are growing at a fast rate).

With some types of cancer, it cannot be easy to tell how differentiated the cells are, and typically these will be assessed as either Grade X, GX or an undetermined grade, which needs to be carefully monitored as the cancer’s nature becomes clearer.

At the start of September, millions of people in the UK were deeply saddened when the news broke that BBC newsreader Bill Turnbull has tragically passed away from prostate cancer.

One of the most familiar faces of morning television, Bill Turnbull’s legacy is far-reaching, but one of the most important parts of this as eloquently put by Prostate Cancer UK is his honest discussion of the diagnosis, his advocacy for cancer care and his support for the many men facing this condition.

As oncology research improves and the potential outcomes for people who are diagnosed with cancer early are increasingly positive, one of the most difficult challenges is to raise awareness to ensure that people get tested when they are younger and more regularly once they pass middle age.

Being diagnosed with cancer at an early stage can help significantly improve outcomes, and the people who have public platforms that are brave enough to share their stories, raise awareness and advocate and encourage people to get tested do more good than they perhaps even realise.

Here are just a few of those brave faces.

Kylie Minogue

The Australian pop singer and actor who kept capturing people’s hearts first on the soap opera Neighbours, as well as two successful pop runs and a starring role in the cult classic Street Fighter (the last role of Raul Julia, who was also tragically taken from us by cancer), entered a battle of her own in 2005.

At the age of 36, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer and once she had entered remission she started to talk openly about her experiences with her diagnosis and later her chemotherapy treatment.

This public discussion of her treatment and the effect it had inspired young women to get regular cancer checks, described by the Cultural Minister of France as the “Kylie effect”.

Olivia Newton-John

The late Olivia Newton-John was an advocate for many incredible causes, but the one that she dedicated a lot of her songwriting ability and energy towards was breast cancer.

After her initial diagnosis in 1992, Ms Newton-John wrote a confessional album about it entitled Gaia: One Woman’s Journey, chronicling her emotional journey through a particularly difficult period in her life.

For the rest of her life, she would advocate for breast cancer research organisations, although tragically her cancer would return in 2013 and later in 2017.

Mr T

The ever-enigmatic fool-pitier that was Mr T was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma, battling the illness for several years before finally entering remission.

Given that Mr T has an inimitable philosophy when looking at practically everything in life, he joked that the type of cancer had his name on it, before writing a currently unpublished book called Cancer Saved My Life: Cancer Ain’t For No Wimps.

He also encouraged people not to give up and, in his typical style, “make death find” them and live their life.

Rod Stewart

One of the best-selling singers of all time, Rod Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2001, manifesting in vocal cord tumours that threatened his career and his life.

He managed to pull through, relearn how to sing and has since actively raised funds for The City Of Hope Foundation and has had a second battle, this time with Prostate cancer in 2017.